Hair brush with a flexible base plate made of a plastic material

ABSTRACT

A hair brush of antistatic plastic material comprises an apertured base plate in the form of a grid having bristles integrally moulded therewith. The base plate is convexly curved in the finished brush with the bristles on the convex side and the grid construction imparts to the brush sufficient resilience to allow the relatively stiff integrally moulded bristles to execute a comfortable brushing action.

DESCRIPTION

The present invention concerns an anti-static hair brush comprising atleast one flexible base plate made of a rigid plastic.

To make brushes with a sufficiently flexible base plate to be fixed onvarious frames or fittings so as to present a fan-shaped bristlestructure, one has, until now, been obliged to attach these bristles tothe base plate, for instance by welding the bristles on the flat plate,whereupon the assembly of the plate was effected on the appropriateshaped mounting so that the bristles made, for instance, of nylon andwelded to the base plate made, for instance, of rubber diverge from eachother so as to obtain an external fan shape or hedge-hog type structurewhich is favourable for brushing. According to another method formanufacturing brushes, an integrally moulded flat member was obtained,comprising a single base plate and bristles. In fact, in this lattercase, it was necessary to use a sufficiently rigid plastic to endow thebristles with the resistance and elasticity necessary for good brushing,giving rise to a base plate which did not have the deformationcharacteristics suitable to all the mountings. Moreover, it was notpossible to use any elastomer material since the hairs catch on thebristles.

The aim of the invention is to obviate these manufacturing drawbacks ofthe previous method by providing a new type of hair brush having asufficiently flexible base plate to be obtained by moulding togetherwith the brushing bristles.

The present invention therefore provides an antistatic hair brushcomprising a handle and at least one brush element carried thereby, thesaid brush element comprising a flexible base plate made of anantistatic plastic material and provided with holes to define a gridforming a supporting structure for the bristles which are integrallymoulded together with the base plate and are disposed perpendicular tothe said plate.

In a preferred embodiment of the base plate, this grid forming thesupporting structure is constituted by a multiplicity of divergingradial ribs, most of which are supported on, on the one hand, a centraloval-shaped element and, on the other hand, the outer oval-shapedperipheral edge of the base plate, these ribs being arranged in anintersecting relationship with further oval-shaped elements situated inthe same plane as the ribs regularly interspaced from each other anddisposed substantially concentrically in relation to each other and inrelation to the central oval-shaped element and to the outer peripheraledge of the base plate; each bristle is situated in a zone definedbetween the intersections of two adjacent radial ribs with a saidoval-shaped element; each bristle is situated equidistant from theintersections of two adjacent ribs with a said oval-shaped supportingelement; the grid forming the base plate is constituted by ribsintersecting at right angles so as to define zones between two adjacentribs over which the brush bristles are distributed in a regular manner;each bristle is situated equidistant between the intersections of twoadjacent ribs with a third rib; the base plate is made of polyamide 12,or of `Rilsan` (a Registered Trade Mark for nylon 11), or of Rilsangrafted to a block copolymer of polyether and polyamide; the plasticmaterial forming the base plate and the bristles contains at least oneantistatic carbon constituent. As an antistatic carbon constituent,there may advantageously be used those described in French PatentPublication No. 2,460,198.

In a first embodiment of the brush according to the invention, the brushhandle and its base plate may be obtained integrally by moulding.

In accordance with a second embodiment, the base plate constitutes acomponent which is distinct from the supporting handle, the said baseplate being moulded flat.

According to a third embodiment of the brush of the invention, thesupporting handle is provided with an opening having on its inner sidesurface a peripheral groove having a dovetail cross section to receivethe edge of the base plate by catch engagement, the said base plateassuming a convex shape on the side on which the bristles are arranged.

According to a fourth embodiment of the brush according to theinvention, the brush handle comprises a recess whose floor comprises aplurality of oblong or circular through holes, the recess having on itsinner side surface a groove having a dovetail cross section to receivethe base plate by catch engagement, whereby the base plate assumes aconvex shape on the side whereon the bristles are distributed.

A first variant of the base plate has a rectangular shape and is rolledup cylindrically and welded on its two opposite edges to form a bristledcylindrical base element.

In a first embodiment of the brush using this first variant of the baseplate, the bristled cylindrical base element is fitted on a cylindricalsupport.

In a second embodiment using this first variant of the base plate, thebristled cylindrical base element is fixed to its associated supportinghandle by being held between the brush hand grip and a cap, the handgrip and the cap forming two elements of the same supporting handle andbeing each disposed near one of the ends of the bristled cylindricalbase element.

In a third embodiment of the brush using this first variant of the baseplate, the brush handle is extended axially by a rod having at its freeend a catch engagement stud intended to cooperate with a correspondingrecess provided in the cap.

A second variant of the base plate is formed by a rectangular base plateprovided on two of its opposite edges with a fastening structure formedby a strip flexible in its connecting zone with the rest of the baseplate, the said strip having a longitudinal rib on its free edge.

In a first embodiment of the brush using this second variant of the baseplate, the brush handle is extended axially by a contoured element witha substantially crescent-shaped cross-section comprising a longitudinalaxial groove to receive the correspondingly shaped lower end of theaxial flange of a slidable holding element of a substantially T-shapedcross section, the top part of the T constituting a cap which surmountsthe contoured element, the slidable holding element and the contouredelement defining between them recesses to hold the longitudinal ribs ofthe base plate.

In a second embodiment of the brush using this second variant of thebase plate, the brush handle is extended axially by a contoured elementwith a crescent-shaped cross-section having a central axially extendingflange whose upper edge is formed as a rib; said flange being disposedbetween two grooves of said contoured element of the handle, saidcontoured elements of the hanndle accommodating a slidable holdingcomponent having axially a shape constituted by two longitudinal sideflanges thickened on their free edges to define a shape corresponding tothe flange and to the two grooves of the contoured element of the handleso as to be capable of slide engagement thereon, said slidable holdingelement comprising two side flanges which, by cooperating with thecontoured element of the handle, hold the base plate by its longitudinalribs.

The slidable holding element has, at its end, near the brush handle, aprojection adapted to engage in a recess in the handle.

In these various embodiments proceeding from the above defined threevariants of the base plate, the brush of the invention has a certainnumber of improved characteristics, especially as regards resistance towear and to chemical action, imparted to it by the rigid plasticsmaterials used for its manufacture, these characteristics being superiorto natural or synthetic elastomers which are normally used. By reason ofthe perforated structure of its base plate, this brush has excellentelasticity, is more easily cleaned and can be very rapidly dried afterbeing washed. Even if a blow dryer is used, the static charges set up bythe blowing dissipate from their points of generation.

In order that the invention may more readily be understood, a number ofembodiments, shown in the accompanying drawings will now be described,merely by way of illustrative but not restrictive examples. In thesedrawings:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a first form of the base plate for a brushaccording to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in perspective of a first embodiment of the brushaccording to the invention;

FIG. 3 is an axial longitudinal cross-sectional view of the brush ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an axial longitudinal cross-sectional view of a secondembodiment of the brush according to the invention, formed as twocomponents;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the brushaccording to the invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the brushaccording to the invention;

FIG. 7 is a view in a transverse cross-section of the embodiment of FIG.6;

FIG. 8 is a top view of a variant of the base plate according to theinvention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the brushaccording to the invention using the plate variant of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the brushaccording to the invention, using the base plate of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the brushaccording to the invention using the base plate variant of FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a second variant of the embodiment of the base plate for abrush according to the invention;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the brushacccording to the invention using the base plate of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the brush obtained by assembling theelements of FIGS. 12 and 13;

FIG. 15 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the brush of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the brushaccording to the invention, using the base plate of FIG. 12;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a brush according to the invention,obtained by assembling the brush elements shown in FIGS. 12 and 16; and

FIG. 18 is a transverse cross-section of the brush of FIG. 17.

Referring now to the drawings, there will be seen an oval-shapedperforated base plate 1 for a brush according to the invention. Thisplate is formed by a plurality of ribs supported by and disposedbetween, on the one hand a central oval-shaped element 3 and, on theother hand, an edge 4 of the oval-shaped base plate 1. Between thiscentral element 3 and edge 4, there are disposed, concentrically in thesame plane as ribs 2 and in an intersecting relationship therewith, aplurality of oval-shaped elements 5 regularly interspaced from eachother and disposed concentrically between the edge 4 and the centralelement 3. Some of the ribs 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, which are supported on edge4 are shorter than the rest and do not reach the central element 3, thisdesign having been conceived because of the oval-shaped design of baseplate 1.

On one of the sides of this base plate 1, and perpendicular thereto,there are arranged a multiplicity of bristles 11 integrally mouldedtogether with the base plate 1. These bristles 11 are advantageouslysituated in the zone defined by the intersection of two adjacent radialribs with one of the oval-shaped elements, each bristle being situatedequidistantly between the said intersections.

This net-like perforated structure endows the base plate 1 with suchflexibility that it can be obtained jointly with a mounting or support12 and a handle 13 by integral moulding.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4, made in two parts, the support or mountingzone of the brush handle 14 has an opening with, over the peripherythereof, a catch engagement groove 14a having a dovetail cross section.This groove is dimensioned so that after the base plate 1 has beenintroduced into it by catch engagement, the base plate assumes a convexshape on the side on which the bristles 11 are distributed.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the support zone 15a of handle 15 isprovided with a plurality of oblong holes 15b; catch-engagement means(not shown) are also provided on the lower side of the support zone 15afor fixing the base plate 1 therein. This mode of embodiment is moreparticularly appropriate for use with a device for dispensing hairtreatment products or with a blow dryer for the hair.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the support or mounting zone 16a of thehandle 16, intended to support the base plate 1, is provided with amultiplicity of through holes 16b having the same function as the oblongholes 15b of the embodiment of FIG. 5. The lower side of the supportzone 16a has a cut out around the periphery of which is a groove 17having a dovetail cross section dimensioned so that, by catchengagement, the base plate 1 is capable of assuming a convex shape onits side carrying the bristles 11 so that the bristles may diverge fromeach other, thus presenting a distribution in space which is suitablefor brushing.

In FIG. 8, there has been shown a top view of a variant of the baseplate 1. This base plate 18 is constituted by ribs 19 intersecting eachother at right angles and having, between the intersections of twoadjacent ribs with another rib, bristles 20 which are perpendicular tothe plane of the plate.

This base plate 18 advantageously has a rectangular shape so that it maybe rolled up and welded by two of its edges onto a cylindrical fitting24 so as to form a cylindrical support element 21. On this cylindricalsupport element 21, the bristles 20 are radial and diverge from eachother thereby facilitating brushing. This cylindrical support element 21may have a brush handle 22 connected to and fixed at one of its endswhile the other end is provided with a cap 23 (see FIG. 9).

In the embodiment of FIG. 10, the cylindrical support element 21 isfitted on a fitting 24 having at one of its ends a cap 24a whilst itsother hand is tapped so as to accommodate the threaded end fitting 25aof an elongate round handle 25.

In the embodiment of FIG. 11, handle 26 is also provided with a threadedend fitting 26a and extends axially from this end fitting 26a via a rod27 provided at its free end with a conical snap-fitting stud 27a slitaxially and intended to catch engage in a recess 28a of correspondingshape in a cap 28. This arrangement is more particularly suited tohollow support elements of a flexible type; for greater flexibility, thesupport element may also be dispensed with, the base plate 18 beingmaintained in a cylindrical roll without any other support except thatof the ends.

In the variant of FIG. 12, the base plate 29 has a net-like structure ofthe same type as the plate of FIG. 8 as regards the disposition of ribs30 and of the bristles 31. Moreover, this base plate is extended on itstwo opposite edges by side strips 32a, 32b which are connected to thebase plate proper by way of a bending zone 33a, 33b and which have theirfree end edges 34a, 34b in the shape of thickened ribs.

This type of plate 29 is more especially intended to be mounted on brushhandles formed as two components, as shown more precisely in FIGS. 13and 16. In the embodiment of the brush shown in FIG. 13, the handle 34is extended axially by a support element 35 in the form of a contouredrod having a substantially crescent-shaped cross section. This contouredrod has, on its concave shape, an axially extending groove 35a shaped tohold by slide insertion, the lower longitudinal rib 36a of the centralflange 36 of a slidable holding component 37 having a substantiallyT-shaped cross-section. The two side strips 37a, 37b come by sliding toa position covering the concave face of the support element 35 so as todefine two side housings on either side of the central flange 36 whereinthere are held, with a given clearance, the end ribs 34a, 34b of sidestrips 32a, 32b of the base plate 29 of FIG. 12.

When the brush is assembled, the side strips 32a, 32b are bent throughthe required angle so that they can be held on the concave face ofsupport element 35 whereupon the rib 36a of holding element 37 isintroduced by sliding inside the groove 35a until the end cap 37c coversthe free end of the support element 35. To endow the base plate 29,shaped into a brush element for a half-round brush, with transverseclearance for imparting flexibility to it, the cap 37c of the slidableholding element 37 should not abut against the said base plate 29.

In the embodiment of FIG. 17, the brush handle is also formed by twoparts capable of being assembled by slide insertion. The first part isconstituted by the handle 38 proper axially extended by a contouredsupport element 39 whose cross-section is substantially crescent-shaped.This contoured support element 39 is provided with an axially extendinglongitudinal flange on its concave side. This flange 40 has along itsfree edge a rib 40a. This rib 40a is intended to be slide-fitted in alongitudinal recess provided on the concave side of a contoured holdingelement 41 having a crescent-shaped cross-section. For this purpose,this concave side is provided with two substantially longitudinallyextending flanges 41a, 41b defining therebetween a groove correspondingin shape to the rib 40a so that the rib 40a may be engaged therein byslide insertion. This holding element 41 is provided at one of its endswith a cap portion 41c and comprises along its side edges flanges 41e,41f whose concave sides are provided with respective longitudinal ribs41g, 41h. The holding element 41 comprises at its end opposite from cap41c, a projection 41d engaging in a recess 38a of a corresponding shapein the handle 38.

When this embodiment is assembled, the base plate 29 is, by bending itsside strips 32a, 32b, made to assume the required shape so that thecorresponding side ribs 34a, 34b may be kept in contact with the edgeregions of the concave side of support element 39, whereupon the holdingelement 41 is engaged so that its internal ribs 41g, 41h cooperate withthe side edges of the support element 39 so as to hold the side ribs34a, 34b of the base plate 29 with a given clearance within the recessesbounded by the slidable holding element 41 and the contoured supportelement 39. One thus obtains a so-called "quarter round" brush. Oncompletion of the assembly operation, the engagement of the projection41d provided on the slidable holding element 41 within the recess 38a ofthe handle 38 prevents these two elements from turning with respect toeach other.

In these last two embodiments of the brush in accordance with theinvention, the scope for bending deformation and transverse displacementof the retaining ribs of the base plate 29 allows the base plate asuppleness of movement which is reflected in a higher quality brushingaction.

The carbon constituent of the plastic material to give it its antistaticproperties may comprise carbon fibres or a powdered "carbongasification" product of the type disclosed in said French PatentPublication No. 2,460,198. The preparation of such a carbon product,formed by incomplete combustion of heavy hydrocarbons to prepare agaseous mixture containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen is described inU.S. Pat. No. 2,914,418, British Pat. Nos. 734,475 and 780,120, at page227 of "1967 Petrochemical Handbook" (Published November 1967), and atpages 118-1122 of "Industrial and Engineering Chemistry", Volume 8 No.7.

It shall be duly understood that the embodiments described above are inno way restrictive and may give rise to any desirable modificationswithout thereby departing from the scope of the invention as defined bythe following claims.

I claim:
 1. In an antistatic hair brush comprising handle means andbrushing means carried by said handle means, said brushing meansembodying a flexible base means and bristles on said base means, theimprovement wherein said base means is made of an antistatic plasticmaterial and includes grid means defining apertures and bristles beingintegrally moulded together with said grid means and disposedperpendicular to the grid means.
 2. An antistatic hair brush accordingto claim 1, wherein said grid means is constituted by a centraloval-shaped support element, an outer oval-shaped peripheral edgemember, oval-shaped further support elements between said centraloval-shaped support element and said outer oval-shaped peripheral edgemember, and a plurality of diverging radial ribs, most of said ribsbeing supported by both said central oval-shaped support element andsaid outer oval-shaped peripheral edge member, said ribs being arrangedin intersecting relationship with said further oval-shaped supportelements which are coplanar with said ribs, said further oval-shapedsupport elements being regularly interspaced from each other anddisposed substantially concentrically with respect to each other and inrelation to the central oval-shaped support element and to the outerperipheral edge member of said grid means.
 3. An antistatic hair brushaccording to claim 2, wherein each said bristle is situated between theintersections of two adjacent said radial ribs with a said furtheroval-shaped element.
 4. An antistatic hair brush according to claim 3,wherein each said bristle is equidistant from the intersections of twoadjacent said ribs with a said further oval-shaped support element. 5.An antistatic hair brush according to claim 1, wherein said grid meansis constituted by ribs intersecting at right angles so as to definebetween two adjacent ribs zones of the grid means over which zones thebristles are distributed in a regular manner.
 6. An antistatic hairbrush according to claim 5, wherein each bristle is between andequidistant from the intersections of two adjacent said ribs with athird said rib.
 7. An antistatic hair brush according to claim 1,wherein the base plate is made of one of the group consisting of nylon12, nylon 11 and nylon 11 grafted to a block copolymer of polyether andpolyamide.
 8. An antistatic hair brush according to claim 1, whereinsaid antistatic plastic material of the base means and the bristlescomprises a plastic material containing at least one antistatic carbonconstituent.
 9. An antistatic hair brush according to claim 1, whereinsaid handle means and said base plate of the brushing means areintegrally moulded.
 10. An antistatic hair brush according to claim 1,wherein said base means of the brushing means is distinct from thehandle means, and said base means is moulded flat.
 11. An antistatichair brush according to claim 10, wherein said handle means includesmeans defining an opening and, on the internal lateral periphery of saidopening, a peripheral groove having a dovetail cross section forreceiving said base means by catch-engagement, whereupon said base meansassumes a shape which is convex on the side whereon the bristles aredistributed.
 12. An antistatic hair brush according to claim 10, whereinsaid handle means comprises means defining a recess having a floor,means defining a plurality of apertures in said floor, and meansdefining a groove of dovetail cross section on the side surface of therecess, and wherein said base means has an edge adapted to be catchengaged in said groove when said base means assumes a shape which isconvex on its side whereon said bristles are distributed.
 13. Anantistatic hair brush according to claim 1, wherein the base means has arectangular shape and is rolled up cylindrically and welded on two ofits opposite edges to form a cylindrical base element.
 14. An antistatichair brush according to claim 13, and including a cylindrical support onwhich said cylindrical base element is fitted.
 15. An antistatic hairbrush according to claim 13, wherein said handle means includes a handgrip and a cap spaced from said hand grip, and wherein said cylindricalbase element is fixed on said handle means by being held between saidhand grip and said cap, and wherein said hand grip and said capconstitute two elements of the same supporting handle and are beingdisposed near the respective ends of said cylindrical base element. 16.An antistatic hair brush according to claim 15, wherein said handlemeans includes first and second ends, a rod extending axially from saidfirst end, and a catch engagement stud adapted to cooperate with saidcap to hold said cap on said rod.
 17. An antistatic hair brush accordingto claim 1, wherein said base means comprises a rectangular plate havingtwo opposite edges and, along each of said two opposite edges, afastening means constituted by a strip and means flexibly connectingsaid strip to the respective said opposite edge of said base means, eachsaid strip having a longitudinal rib on its free edge.
 18. An antistatichair brush according to claim 17, wherein said handle means includes acontoured extension means having a substantially crescent-shapedcross-section and including an axially extending groove means, andseparate holding means comprising an axially extending flange adapted tobe engaged in said groove means, wherein said holding means has asubstantially T-shaped cross section, the top part of the T constitutinga cap which surmounts said contoured extension means, and wherein saidholding means and the contoured extension means define between themrecess means wherein said longitudinal ribs of said base means strip areheld.
 19. An antistatic hair brush according to claim 17, wherein saidhandle means includes contoured extension means of crescent-shapedcross-section, an axial flange centrally of said extension means, spacedparallel groove means of said contoured extension means, and a rib atthe edge of said flange, wherein said flange is disposed between saidspaced groove means of the contoured extension means, and wherein saidhandle means further includes holding means slidable along saidcontoured extension means, said holding means having two longitudinalflanges adapted to receive therebetween said flange of the contouredextension and adapted to engage said spaced groove means of thecontoured extension means so as to be capable of sliding engagementtherealong, said holding means further comprising two side stripsadapted to cooperate with said contoured extension means to hold saidbase means by the said longitudinal ribs of its strips.
 20. Anantistatic hair brush according to claim 18, wherein said handle has ahand grip at the end opposite said contoured extension means, whereinsaid holding means has a projection at its end near said hand grip, andwherein said hand grip includes recess means to receive said projection.